Rack actuated roundabout toy



Aug. 22, 1950 J. SLATROW 2,519,710

RACK ACTUATED ROUNDABOUT TOY 1 Filed June 27( 194e 's sheets-sheet 1 E11/ARLES 7. 152/175'01@ y iBy @amm wywmey,

Inventor Aug 22, 1950 c. J. SLATRow 2,519,710

RACK ACTUATED RoUNDABoUT TOY 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 27, 1946 Aug, 22, 1950 c. J. sLATRow 2,519,710

` 'RACK ACTUATED RouNDABoUT ToY Filed June 27, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 5 I??? 295/4 "2f *73 4L i II'HJ'H'HI'MM'H" .NHL/' MM Inventar HARLES JEL/1 THUN.

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Patented ug. 22, QS

* UNITED STATES;

i OFFIC A.2,519,710 RACK ACTUATED Reunions-OUT' Tor Charles' J.i Slatrow, Waltham, Mass. Application lune 27, 1946, SerialfNo. 679,786

This' invention relates to a toy and more para ticularlytoa spinningtoy.l Y

The primary object of the invention-is to afford amusement and entertainment for children and grownups alike.

"Anotherobject is a toy simulatingV action, `and particularlyI the action of race horses traveling around a'track.`

'A further object is manually-to impart rotary motion to'arotor through the medium of a' novel pump:

The above and other'objects may be attained by employing' this: invention which embodies amo-ngitsfea'tures" a vstator or base, a rotor ro= tatabiy -rnounted on the stator, a toothed drive wheel having driving connection with the rotor, a leverH pivoted to the stator; an arm pivoted'r to thelever and arack on" theAA arm adapted to be moved intodrivingl relation with" the toothedA drive wheel' by' movement of said lever in one direction-about thev pivot, and simultaneously by the movement of the arm about its pivot to impart rotary motion to the drive wheel and consequently to the rotor.

'@tlier features include objectsv mounted'on the stator simulatingnatural or artificial objects, -aridobjects mountedon the rotor' simulating naturaliobjects so-that as theV rotor isrotated the motion ofvthe objects thereon will be accented by the stationary objects on the stator.

'-@therf features include finger grips on the lever and on the arm automatically to` advance the ra-'clrintov engagement with the toothed wheel and swing the arm about its pivot in-a direction to drive the toothed wheel and means to retract the lever* and move the rack` out of driving relation with the drive wheel.

Still other features includeV signal means to indicate audibly the end of the travel of the rack.

In the drawings, Y

Figure 1 is atop plan view fof a toy embodying the features of this invention, j

jFigureQ is 1iaside'vievv thereof,

Figure 3-"i's' a' horizontalv sectional view taken.

substantially alon'g then line 3"--3` of"Figure 2,

liigureA 4 is" a `transverse sectional view taken substantially along the line 4 4 of Figure l,

Figure 5 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view through the device, and

Figure 6 is a horizontal sectional View taken substantially along the line 6-6 of Figure 5.

Referring to the drawings in detail, a base or stator l0, preferably circular in plan is provided dlecent its periphery with upstanding legs or 5 Claims. (ICI. MLITY llleti

2. posts H' simulating rence posts to which 'an annular rail |'2'i's attached; to denne e, eircularpath within the confines of which the. rotor operates; Carried centrally of thebase or stator it is a socket- `It: in which a bearing` bushing' It' is tted; This. bearingfbushing Y'supports a column i5 provided at its upper end with external 'screw' threads 16 'upon which is supported an inverted socket l' formed at its lower end with a conical base member l s;

Secured' in anysuitabl'e manner to the underside of the conical member It" is a platform i9, and the edge of this'A platformV is arranged in concentric-spaced relation to the periphery of the stator lll as will be readily understood upon reference to thev drawings. Formed at spaced intervals about the periphery' of the platform l are upstanding po'st's 2i) carrying at their upper end-s a rail 21, the upper edge of which lies in 'substantially the' same plane with the upper edge of therail'l2"previously'described'- Y Rotatably supported" on the bearing bush I4' between the undersideofthe platform i9 and the upper sideof the base or stator I t is a toothed drive wheel 2'?` to thelhub V23 ofwhich is secured a rotor4 designated generally 2s.' The rotor 2t comprises a circular plate 25 the periphery of which is disposed between the rails l2 and 2l and the posts Il and' 2),` and fixed adjacent the 'periphery rof the plate 25' are suitable figures 26' which in preferred form simulate race horses mounted'by jockeys 21.

Pivotally` supported atv 2B in eccentric rei latio'n'to'the colmun l5 on the base or stator l is a rever 29 provided with a thumb or ringerpiece 30" which` projects beyond" the peripheral edge' of the strijtorl Il]` to facilitate manipulation of thedevice by th fingers of" the user. Projecting laterally from the lever 29 intermediate its eiids is an ear 3l'- adjacnt the end of which is pivoted as at an. arm 33 carrying at its inner ernia` toothed arcuate rack bar 34 the teeth of which are adapted to mesh with the teeth of the toothed drive wheell 2`2` under certain conditions t'o be more fully hereinafter explained. Formedv on the end of'. thev arm 33` opposite the racl bar gli is a thumb or finger-piece 35 which cooperates with the thumb Ior finger-piece it previously described during the operation of the device. Attached in any suitable manner to the base or stator Ill is one end of a retractile coil spring 3E, the opposite end of which is connected as at 3'! to the arm 33 near its pivot point, but slightly yoff-set therefrom toward the center of the stator or base l0. A. bell or like audible warn4 3 ing signal is mounted on the base Il] in the path of movement of the rack bar 34 adjacent the end of its power stroke so as to audibly indicate the completion of the power stroke thereof.

In operation, it will be understood that the thumb or linger-pieces 30 and 35 are grasped between the thumb and forenger, and the pieces pinched together as suggested in the dotted line position illustrated in Figure 3. The act of pinching the members 30 and 35 will cause the lever 29 to swing about its pivot 28 so as to advance the rack 34 into meshing engagement with the teeth of the drive wheel 22, and simultaneous movement of the lever arm 33 about its pivot 32 will impart a swinging motion to the rack and transmit this motion to the toothed drive wheel 22 so as to cause the wheel and the disc 25 carried thereby to rotate about the bearing bushing I4. Such movement will extend the spring 36, and the completion of the power stroke of the rack will be audibly indicated by the contact of the end of the rack with the bell 31, and the parts upon release of the thumb or lingerpieces and 35 will be restored to their initial position under the influence of the spring 36. Since the spring 36 tends to move the lever 29 in a direction which will retract the arm 33, it will be obvious that the parts will return to initial positions without in any way interfering with the spinning of the wheel 22 and its attendant mechanism. From the above it will be evident that I have provided a novel mechanism by which spinning toys in general may be driven, and the driving rack will only contact the drive Wheel during the power stroke thereof.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim as my invention:

I1. A device comprising a stator, a rotor rotatably mounted on the stator, a toothed drive wheel having driving connection with the rotor, a lever pivoted to the stator, an arm pivoted to the lever, a rack on the arm adapted to be advanced into driving relation with the toothed drive wheel by movement of said lever in one direction about its pivot and to be retracted from driving relation with the drive wheel by movement of the lever in a reverse direction, and finger grips on the lever and the arm which when advanced toward one another progressively and sequentially advance the rack into engagement with the toothed wheel and swing the arm about its pivot in a direction to drive the wheel.

2. A device comprising a stator, a rotor rotatably mounted on the stator, a toothed drive wheel having driving connection with the rotor, a lever pivoted to the stator, an arm pivoted to the lever, a rack on the arm adapted to be advanced into driving relation with the toothed drive wheel by movement of said lever in one direction about its pivot and to be retracted from driving relation with the drive wheel by movement of the lever in a reverse direction, nger grips on the lever and the arm to advance the rack into engagement with the toothed wheel and swing the arm about its pivot in a direction to drive the wheel, and means to move the lever in the reverse direction and retract the rack out of driving relation with the wheel.

3. A spinning toy comprising a stator, a rotor rotatably mounted on the stator, a toothed drive wheel having driving connection with the rotor, a lever pivoted to the stator, an arm pivoted to the lever, a rack on the arm adapted to be moved into driving relation with the toothed drive wheel by movement of said lever in one direction about its pivot, cooperating finger grips on the lever and on the arm which when advanced toward one another progressively and sequentially advance the rack into engagement with the toothed wheel and swing the arm about its pivot in a direction to drive the wheel, and a retractile coil spring connected to the stator and to the arm yieldingly to move the lever and the arm about their respective pivots and retract the rack from wheel engaging position.

4. A spinning toy comprising a stator, a rotor rotatably mounted on the stator, a toothed drive wheel having driving connection with the rotor, a lever pivoted to the stator, an arm pivoted to the lever, a rack on the arm adapted to be moved into driving relation with the toothed drive Wheel by movement of said lever in one direction about its pivot, cooperating nger grips on the lever and on the arm which when advanced toward one another progressively and sequentially advance the rack into engagement with the toothed wheel and swing the arm about its pivot in a direction to drive the wheel, and signal means secured to said stator, said signal means being selectively struck by one end of the rack when it has completed its wheel driving stroke.

5. A spinning toy comprising a stator, a rotor rotatably mounted on the stator, a toothed drive wheel having driving connection with the rotor, a lever pivoted to the stator, an arm pivoted to the lever, a rack on the arm adapted to be moved into driving relation with the toothed drive wheel by movement of said lever in one direction about its pivot, a retractile coil spring connected to the stator and to the arm yieldingly to move the lever and retract the rack from wheel driving relation, and signal means secured to said stator, said signal means being selectively struck by one end of the rack when it has completed its wheel driving stroke.

CHARLES J. SLATROW.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are ofrecord in the lile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name l Date 430,322 Seineche July 17, 1890 1,248,678 Land'siedel Dec. 4, 1917 1,272,195 Black July 9, 1918 2,246,034 Elison June 17, 1941 

